Rick Jordahl, Associate Editor, Pork Network   |   Updated: December 30, 2011

Swine-origin influenza viruses identified in humans will now be referred to as “variant” viruses and denoted with a “v,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The decision was made after discussions among the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health, the Food and Agriculture Organization, CDC, and other U.S. federal agencies.

An official from the National Pork Board expressed optimism for the new naming system. “we welcome the scientific view on naming these viruses,” said Paul Sundberg, DVM, vice president, science and technology, NPB. “This new nomenclature will make communications more accurate and help prevent unintended consequences of naming a virus based on just one part of its genetic makeup.” Sundberg said the new naming system will help avoid implicating any of the genetic contributors of recombinant influenza viruses.

This change in nomenclature follows an announcement by WHO of a decision to standardize nomenclature for the pandemic influenza a (H1N1) 2009 virus (which has had diverse names) as influenza a (H1N1)pdm09. Influenza viruses identified in swine populations will continue to be referred to as “swine influenza” viruses.

Human infections with the influenza viruses currently circulating among swine are rare, according to CDC. since 2005, only 35 cases have been reported in the United States, but the frequency with which they have been detected increased in 2011.

Since August 2011, CDC has identified 12 human infections in five states with swine-origin influenza a (H3N2) viruses. per the new naming convention, these H3N2 viruses will now be referred to as “influenza a (H3N2) variant viruses with genes from avian, swine and human viruses,” and will be abbreviated as “A(H3N2)v” for scientific use and “H3N2v” for general public use. these 12 A(H3N2)v viruses also have the M gene from the A(H1N1)pdm09 virus. Of the 12 cases, two were from Indiana, three from Iowa, two from Maine, three from Pennsylvania, and two from West Virginia.

To minimize the risk for interspecies influenza transmission, CDC and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) encourage swine workers to be vaccinated against human seasonal influenza, wear appropriate personal protective equipment, and practice good hygiene, such as washing hands thoroughly with soap and water, when in contact with swine, especially swine that show signs of illness.

The National Pork Board also recommends producers work with their veterinarian to develop appropriate prevention and control measures for influenza in swine, which can include vaccinating swine against swine influenza. Similar to humans, swine infected with influenza viruses do not always exhibit signs of infection. Persons with swine exposure in the week before onset of an illness with symptoms of influenza requiring medical care should notify their health-care provider of their swine exposures.

Persons who develop symptoms of influenza after close contact with swine are recommended to stay home until well to minimize contact with persons and swine as much as possible.

In July 2009, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the swine industry implemented a SIV surveillance program to characterize the distribution of SIV in U.S. swine herds. to date, approximately 150 SIV isolates have undergone sequencing of three genes (hemagglutinin, matrix, and neuraminidase gene segments).

Read more.  

JUST WHEN the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and its allied health institutions were working hard to contain the cholera pandemic two other known contagious diseases appear to have reared their heads in the country.

The Pandemic Influenza a (H1N1) 2009 popularly known as Swine Flu and Acute Hemorrhagic Conjunctivitis commonly called “Apollo” have being reported at major hospitals across the country.

Authorities at the Achimota Hospital in Accra have confirmed 15 reports of the H1N1 Influenza from Achimota and its environs.

Speaking to Health Matters in Accra yesterday, Michael Alexander Garr, Diseases Control Officer of the GHS at the Achimota Hospital said officially 11 out of the 15 reported cases came from St John’s Grammar Senior High School with the remaining cases coming from Tesano, Achimota and Alogboshie areas.

He explained that the disease was prevalent at the St. John’s Grammar SHS because of the mode of transmission of the pandemic.

He said “the pandemic Influenza H1N1 2009 is a disease that is caused by a virus that affects the respiratory system. The viruses are mainly spread from one person to another through droplets released during coughing or sneezing.”

He continued that sometimes people may become infected by touching surfaces or holding objects contaminated with the influenza viruses.

Mr. Garr noted that realizing the danger, his outfit in collaboration with the Ga West District Health Management team went to the St. John’s Grammar SHS to educate the students on the causes, symptoms and preventive mechanisms of the virus.

The school has however vacated for the holidays so health officials can have the opportunity to fumigate the school.The health official stated that all the victims have been treated and discharged and have been asked to stay at home for a period of two weeks in order not to spread the disease.

The symptoms of the disease are: high temperature, headache, body pain, fever, difficulty in breathing, vomiting, diarrhea and sore throat among others

In some cases, vomiting and diarrhea and complications of the disease include pneumonia.

Mr. Garr advised that people should regularly wash their hands with soap and water and entreated infected individuals to cover their mouths with a handkerchief or tissue paper when sneezing or coughing.

He also called on individuals who experience any of the symptoms to rush to the nearest health center for free testing and treatment.

On the Apollo pandemic, the Ophthalmological Society of Ghana (OSG) in a statement issued in Accra said reported cases from four clinics in Accra and Tema last month was 390, while Okomfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi reported 81 cases.

The statement jointly signed by Dr Edith Dogbe, President and Dr Imoro Zeba Braimah, General Secretary said 12 cases were reported to Agogo Presbyterian Hospital, 20 cases at Akwatia Government Hospital and a few other verbal reports from various private eye clinics in Bolgatanga and Bawku.Apollo which is a highly contagious viral infection that affects the lining of the eyelids and eyeball, usually affects both eyes but may affect one eye and later spread to the other.

It affects people of all ages particularly those in crowded living conditions (that is in homes, schools, day care centres, work places) and those who engage in poor hand washing practices.its mode of transmission is by contact with the hands, towels, face cloths and other surfaces exposed to secretions that contain the virus.The symptoms of Apollo include sore eyes, a feeling of grittiness or burning, redness, watery discharge, swelling of the eyelids and sensitivity to light.The statement advised against the use of steroid eye drops and advised affected persons to report immediately to an eye care worker for appropriate treatment.It also said affected persons should stay away from non affected persons to prevent spreading of the disease.The statement said frequent hand washing and personal hygiene measures must be adopted whilst avoiding the urge to rub the eyes with unclean hands could prevent the disease.Meanwhile statistics available from the GHS for September 29, 2010 to March 27, 2011 indicates that cholera cases from 10 districts in Greater Accra stands at 4,499 with 36 deaths. this is followed by 573 cases from 12 districts in the Eastern region with 9 deaths; 554 cases with 24 deaths from 7 districts in Central; 8 cases from one district in Upper West with no deaths and 32 cases from a district in Northern region with no deaths.

According to Dr. Joseph Amankwah, Public Health Director of GHS in an interview with Health Matters, between 800 and 900 cases are reported each week. he describes the recent pandemic as a mysterious one.

He further stated that another factor that could be contributing to the situation was that most landlords in Accra have rented out rooms without toilet facilities to tenants. this he noted has contributed to a lot of people defecating in nearby bushes, packaging faeces in black polythene bags and throwing these into gutters among other unhygienic practices.

“This is weird yet the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) doesn’t seem to care!”

The GHS has therefore warned that the prevention and control of cholera require an integrated multi-sectoral approach since the control of most of the risk factors are beyond the health sector.

“The outbreak is not under control and is still spreading rapidly. The possibility of it spreading to other regions and districts is very high,” it noted in a memorandum.

By Esther Awuah

Rapid differentiation of mixed influenza A/H1N1/infections with seasonal and pandemic variants by multi-temperature single-stranded conformational polymorphism.

J Clin Microbiol. 2011 Apr 6;

Authors: Pajak B, Stefanska I, Lepek K, Donevski S, Romanowska M, Szeliga M, Brydak LB, Szewczyk B, Kucharczyk K

Mixed infections of a single host with different variants of influenza a virus are the main source of reassortants which may have unpredictable properties when they establish themselves in the human population. In this report we describe a method for rapid detection of mixed influenza infections with seasonal A/H1N1/human strain and the pandemic A/H1N1/v strain which emerged in 2009 in Mexico and the United States. The influenza A/H1N1/variants were characterized by the multi-temperature single-stranded conformational polymorphism (MSSCP) method. The MSSCP gel patterns of hemagglutinin gene fragments of pandemic A/H1N1/v and different seasonal A/H1N1/strains were easily distinguishable two hours after completion of RT-PCR. Using the MSSCP based genotyping approach co-infections with seasonal and pandemic variants of the A/H1N1/subtype were identified in four out of 23 primary samples obtained from patients that were presented with influenza-like symptoms to hospitals across Poland during the epidemic season 2009/10. Pandemic influenza strain presence was confirmed in all these primary samples by real-time RT-PCR. The sensitivity level of the MSSCP based minor genetic variant detection was 0.1 % as determined on a mixture of DNA fragments obtained from amplification of the hemagglutinin gene of seasonal and pandemic strains. The high sensitivity of the method suggests its applicability for characterization of new viral variants long before they become dominant.

PMID: 21471335 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

Tags: avian flu, h1n1, h1n5, porcine flu, pork flu, swine flu

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